Water aerobics exercise is a great low-impact way to burn calories, lose weight and improve your cardiovascular fitness. If you combine water aerobics with a healthy diet and strength-training exercises, you'll achieve a healthy weight-loss and fitness plan. Although water aerobics doesn't burn as many calories as some other higher-intensity aerobic exercises, you can enjoy many other health benefits specific to water exercise -- while losing weight.
Calories Burned
The amount of calories you burn while doing water aerobics depends on your current body weight and the amount of time you perform the exercise. If you're around 160 pounds, you'll burn an estimated 292 calories doing 1 hour of water aerobics, according to Mayo Clinic.com. You'll burn an estimated 364 calories per hour doing water aerobics if you're around 200 pounds or about 436 calories per hour if you're around 240 pounds. The number of calories burned increases from there if you weigh more. For weight loss, you could aim to perform 30 to 60 minutes of water aerobics four to six times per week, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center advises.
Because 1 lb. equals 3,500 calories, you would need to burn 500 calories more than you consume each day to lose 1 lb. per week -- 3,500 divided by 7 equals 500. You could achieve this by combining water aerobics most days of the week to burn calories, along with cutting your caloric intake from your diet.
Other Benefits
In addition to weight loss, water aerobics and other types of water exercises provide a variety of other benefits. Water exercises "cushion" your body, reducing the impact on your joints, explains the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Exercising in water increases the resistance against your muscles, typically providing 12 to 14 percent more resistance than when you exercise out of the water. Also, water exercises help to prevent overheating while you're exercising, because the water helps to regulate your body temperature. Water exercises can help you to improve your strength, flexibility, cardiovascular endurance, and body weight and composition.
Considerations
Just doing water aerobics may not actually cause you to lose weight, because a healthy diet and strength-training exercises are equally-important parts of weight loss. In addition to water aerobics, aim to perform strength-training exercises such as calisthenics or lifting weights twice each week. Other types of exercise to incorporate in your fitness and weight-loss plan include stretching or flexibility exercises and weight-bearing exercises, notes the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.
Tips
Although water aerobics is a great cardio exercise, you might also try other types of water exercises such as water pilates, water yoga and fluid yogalates, suggests the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability. Swimming laps, water walking, water strength-training and deep water running are also great water exercises. Many water therapies are also available, some of which address physical disabilities or rehabilitation of injuries. Additionally, you could try fun classes like water volleyball, polo, hip-hop or funk dancing, tennis, tai chi and tai kwon do.
References
- University of Pittsburgh Medical Center: Water Training -- More Than Swimming 'Upstream' for Fitness
- University of Pittsburgh Medical Center: Achieving and Maintaining a Healthful Weight
- Mayo Clinic.com: Exercise for Weight Loss -- Calories Burned in 1 Hour
- National Center on Physical Activity and Disability: Exercise/Fitness -- Aquatic Therapy
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